SPECIAL REPORT: Top 6 Ways To Keep Your Car On The Road

Augusta, GA -- One of the main ways to keep your ride on the road is to focus on the rubber that meets it.

Marc Yount, owner, Marc Yount's Tire and Auto: "The car itself actually sits on a footprint of 3 square-feet."

A little tread holding up a lot of car, and everything inside it...

Yount: "Tires need to be serviced and looked at every 4,000-5,000 miles, religiously for 2 big reasons: #1 to get a trained eye on the tire, just to make sure you don't have any problems, and #2's to look at what's behind those tires."

Which brings us to brakes...

Yount: "If you're not having your brakes inspected on a regular basis...just checking the brake pad and turning the rotor to make sure that there are no bad spots in the rotor and make sure it's even. That is when you're going to have a major repair bill."

Yount says techs can check the brakes when they're rotating your tires.

Up next...the fluids.

Yount: "Everybody does a pretty good job of changing oil. No doubt about that,but the fluids that they forget about are transmission fluid, power steering fluid, brake fluid, coolant. And, those need regular service, additionally."

And what about the lights on the dash that can come on when you least expect it, and least want it.

Yount: "Don't let it just sit there and glare you in the face. It's there for a reason."

Yellow is usually a warning. Red means get to the shop...fast."

Yount: "Generally, it's telling you about an emission control issue, generally. And if it is, that just very simply means the car is not running efficiently."

Another good tip, know your mechanic and he or she can be a good friend to you and your car.

Yount: "Regardless of where you're taking your car for service, it's always nice to have the same people about."

Brad Means, reporting: "But, before you take your car here to the shop, you need to take a trip here, to your glove compartment. That's where you'll find your car's service manual. The key, Yount says, to any an everything you need to know about maintaining your ride."

Yount: "If you'll keep up with that owner's manual, the scheduled maintenance that's written for you, right in the book, chances are very rare that you'll have a major breakdown, it's just not gonna happen."

Avoiding breakdowns and keeping our rides running longer...good info to have when we're trying to save money and stay on the road.

So, a quick recap of 6 things to focus on to keep your car running longer:

1. Tires

2. Brakes

3. Fluids

4. Warning lights

5. Know your mechanic

6. Pay attention to your service manual.

We invite you to let us know your top ways to keep your car running, by leaving a comment below.